Caterina de' Medici (1519-1589) married Henry de Valois in 1533,
and came from Florence to France. She was eventually established
at the castle Chenonceau (the present album's title) in 1559 after
the death of the latter. Most of the present dance music is known
more recently in its publication by Phalèse in Liber
Primus leviorum carminum (1571) & Chorearum molliorum
collectanea (1583), but the present performance is actually
based on two earlier obscure Italian manuscripts in which much of
Phalèse's music first appears.